Technical advances and the increasing ubiquity of mobile phones, computers, tablets, and other electronic communication devices, have made electronic communication the primary method of communication in modern society. Businesses, governments, organizations, communities, schools, families, friends, acquaintances, and even adversaries, rely on such forms of electronic communication as e-mail, text messaging, and instant messaging as the backbone of any relationship or dialog. And with the growing popularity of social media and social messaging, other electronic communication platforms, such as “Twitter” and “WhatsApp,” are adding hundreds of thousands of new accounts per day. An obvious benefit of electronic communication, when compared to old fashioned paper and pen, is that it is quick and easy to draft an electronic communication, designate a recipient, and hit send. The sender's message is nearly instantaneously delivered from the sender's device to the recipient's device, whether down the hall or across the globe.
However, it is that same ease and speed which also allows for electronic messages to be easily and quickly forwarded along to unintended recipients. In fact, the sender has almost no control over any electronic communication once it is sent. A sender cannot control for how long the electronic communication is available to the recipient, whether the recipient can save, download, printer or otherwise retain the electronic communication, or share it with a third party. The sender is therefore left to trust that the recipient will not do anything undesirable with the communication. This is particularly a problem when sensitive and/or private material is shared through any form of electronic communication.
Presently available systems and applications to date, which have focused on such techniques as “self-destructing” communications (i.e., embedded code which purportedly deletes an e-mail), do not adequately provide the level of control required for a sender to be truly confident that a received communication will only be viewed and used as the sender desires.
It is with respect to these and other considerations that the disclosure made herein is presented.